There was a time in my career when I stopped loving my job. For whatever reason, work seemed like a grind, and I no longer felt the privilege of doing something that made an impact. My thoughts wandered aimlessly, as I started dreaming about what could be, forgetting about what is. The real problem was that I was not in a position to make a career change. During this time opportunity knocked, but I was unable to say yes. Not just because the economics of the situation didn’t

We've all had moments when we hit our zone of genius. You suddenly (in a good way) feel like you're on fire - you're doing important work you find interesting, you're developing your talents and turning them into strengths. How often have you felt like you're hitting it out of the park while delivering great results? Here is what you need to understand about your zone of genius. You can create more of them by being intentional about using your strengths daily. "Each person's

Is it possible to learn to leverage our time for it’s highest purpose? When we make a trade off in life we sacrifice something in our choice. Trading UP rather than off is when we can learn to understand that life is a system of intentional deposits and withdrawals. When we start to look at our life in this manner we can then learn to trade up rather than just trade off. I find that using a simple banking transaction as an example really helps to understand the enormity of

So what’s the way of the essentialist? The way of the essentialist is the relentless pursuit of less but better. It’s the skill of weighing the options and pursuing those, and only those, that are truly essential. It says no to many and yes to a few. In the language of strengths, it’s a person making a choice to pursue their strengths and manage their weakness’s. For example, if we spend our time focusing on what we are bad at and really working hard to get better – at best

Love passionately, work fearlessly and dream unboundedly. Shouldn’t we all be starting a movement of hope? A revolution to change the world where even the least of these can find meaning and purpose. We should pay attention to the talents and strengths in others, demonstrate forgiveness, and stay grounded in the promise of God’s grace. A revolution happens when people join together and harvest the seeds planted by previous generations. Together we should live a life compell

There is no question the world is hurting. Natural disasters like hurricanes and fires bite into our hope. Worse yet, our personal hurricanes drive us towards hope in a substance. We are quick to find a new addiction or distraction. If we get a moment of peace the volume of division is deafening. For example, I'm a stander in the stadium and a kneeler in my church. I thought this was normal but now I'm told it is not. It feels like no matter what choice is made someone gets u

There is an old saying that if you see a turtle on top of a fence post it had help getting there. That image seems to get stuck in my head because it is true. I would also add cruel – but for our example true. Everyone deserves a supportive group of people. Together we achieve more. Take Jesus of Nazareth as an example. He did not lead alone but rather surrounded himself with a group of friends. His network of disciple changed how the world thinks, speaks, believes, and loves

"Totality" is the moment of total eclipse of the sun. Something we experienced this afternoon in Nebraska and across the United States. As I reflect upon the eclipse I can't help but think about the sun and the moon. Both add light and yet each represent the opposite force. On the one side we have morning or light, and on the other darkness or night. Yet every once in a while from our perspective they come together. Daytime kisses nighttime. The moon blocks the sun. It's so c